[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 127 (Friday, August 3, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO COMBAT HUMAN SEX TRAFFICKING

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                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 3, 2007

  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, today, along with 
Representatives Deborah Pryce and Lynn Woolsey, I am reintroducing 
legislation that would combat human sex trafficking by using the Tax 
Code to put traffickers in prison. Approximately 800,000 people are 
trafficked across international borders each year. Instead of dreams of 
better jobs and better lives, they are trapped into a nightmare of 
coercion, violence, and disease. However, trafficking is not just a 
problem in other countries. In addition to the men, women, and children 
from around the world who are brought into the United States for the 
sole purpose of being bought and sold by American citizens for 
commercial sex, in many communities, the victims themselves are 
Americans.
  The legislation would authorize $4 million toward the establishment 
of an office within the IRS Criminal Investigation Division to 
prosecute sex traffickers for violations of tax laws. This office would 
coordinate closely with the existing task forces in the Department of 
Justice that are focused on sex trafficking offenders. The IRS would be 
directed to focus on the willful failure of traffickers to file 
returns, supply information, or pay taxes where the taxpayer is an 
``aggravated'' non-filer. Additionally, the provision establishes a new 
felony offense for an aggravated failure to file, to include failure to 
file with respect to income or payments derived from activity which is 
criminal under Federal or State law. The aggravated failure shall carry 
a maximum sentence of 10 years per failure and shall increase the 
penalty from $25,000 under current law to $50,000. The legislation also 
increases other penalties for underpayment or overpayment of tax due to 
fraud.
  The bill works to the benefit of the women and girls that are 
victimized by the traffickers not only by removing the traffickers from 
the streets but also by revising the IRS Whistleblower provisions that 
are currently in place so that the women and girls who choose to 
participate in the investigation of the trafficker will be eligible to 
participate in the whistleblower program and may ultimately receive 
some payment for their participation.
  This bill will provide the IRS with the necessary resources to 
prosecute traffickers, pimps, and sex tour operators and recover their 
illicit profits. It is important that we protect the victims of the sex 
trade industry and punish the predators who exploit them.

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